I owe my life to Alan Shafer.

On October 11, 2009, I was running on my usual morning one-mile route. Then I staggered a couple of steps and hit the ground, unconscious, with my heart stopped. I fell to the ground just across the street from where Jodie Hare lived with her husband Dan and her son, Mason, pictured to the right. Jodie had given birth to her son exactly a year earlier on her own birthday, so the day of my cardiac arrest was the double birthday of both Jodie and Mason.

Jodie's parents, Alan and Christine Shafer, pictured below, were visiting from the east coast to celebrate the double family birthdays. Christine was in front of their house and saw me go down across the street. Christine called to Jodie and Alan. While Jodie called 911, Alan rushed across the street to help. He had recently learned that when someone has a sudden cardiac arrest, the first thing to do after calling 911 is to start giving chest compressions in a process called cardio cerebral resuscitation (CCR). Assisting with breathing, as is usual with cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can wait for later. If someone's heart suddenly stops, they have some oxygen in the blood, but it is essential to keep the blood flowing to provide this oxygen to the brain, heart, and other parts of the body.

After finding I had no pulse, Alan started giving me chest compressions. After calling 911, Jodie joined her father while silently willing this stranger (me) not to die on her son's birthday.

The fire department emergency medical technicians (EMTs) where there in four minutes. They took over the chest compressions from Alan and soon connected an automatic external defibrillator (AED) to my chest. The AED shocked me and got my heart beating weakly. Soon after, paramedics arrived and I was transported to a hospital where the blockage in my coronary artery was addressed. In total, 17 people that day helped saved my life, with Alan providing chest compressions during those crucial four minutes.

Every wonderful thing that has happened in my life since that time I owe to my lifesavers. And as I learned about how to avoid heart disease, I have done my best to share that knowledge with others. I would like to think that this knowledge has helped save other people's lives as well, all ripples from the splash made by my lifesavers.

Each year on the anniversary of my cardiac arrest, I reach out to Jodie to wish her and Mason a happy birthday and to thank her and her family for saving my life that day. This year, this is the message I got back from Jodie.

"Thanks so much for this message. Unfortunately, it comes at a sad time for me. My father had been experiencing some strange deterioration in his body for about 9 weeks now. He was home and functioning, just undergoing many tests as his legs started to weaken and he gained some paralysis in his face. After a fall that prompted an ER trip about 3 weeks ago and some minor stitches, they finally discovered he had Guillain Barre Syndrome. Just last Wednesday he ended up in the ICU (after being transferred to Rehab because he was making improvements) due to complications from this syndrome. A week ago Saturday he was intubated, and he passed this past Saturday, 10/14. It all happened so quickly and suddenly. We are all in shock."

And just like that, my lifesaver, Alan Shafer, is gone. The man who, without delay, rushed across the street to save the life of a stranger has now lost his own life. Alan, you are gone but not forgotten.

John Tanner
10-24-2023